Optical heads and optical data storage media are employed in optical disk storage devices of, for example, computers and personal electronic devices. Optical heads typically include a laser source and optical components for directing a laser beam onto the surface of the optical data storage media for the purpose of either reading or writing data thereto. The laser source and optical components must be optically aligned with each other before the optical head can properly read or write data to the optical data storage media. In conventional optical heads, the optical components are connected to each other such that the optical components can be moved relative to each other and to the laser source. Thus, the position of the optical components can be manually adjusted relative to each other and to the laser source so that, after assembly, the optical components can be aligned with each other and with the laser source.
The increasing miniaturization of computers and personal electronic devices has led to a need for extremely small optical heads. The above-referenced applications Ser. Nos. 09/457,104 and 09/544,370 describe a low-profile optical head used in optical disk storage devices that can have a height (measured perpendicular to the optical disk) of, for example, 3.25 mm. This optical head is formed from a laser source and several optical components. Because of their minute size, the laser source and optical components are fixedly attached to each other with a permanent adhesive during assembly of the low-profile optical head. As such, the position of the laser source and the optical components cannot be adjusted after assembly of the optical head. If correct alignment within tolerances is not achieved during assembly of this optical head, it will not function as intended.